Friday, 14 December 2012

Thursday, 13 December 2012

Narrative

Jamie is reflecting on her childhood to her therapist. She
talks about the times her grandfather would tell her stories about how he was a
medic in the war, and the story of how he was attending to a man who was
bleeding to death, but had to leave him and deal with a group of men dying on
the field – so the man bled to death. Before she was institutionalised, she
researched and discovered that the man’s body was never found. These are what
led to the night terrors that made her hallucinate and drove her insane.

The night terrors then change from being figments of her
imagination, to real life when a killer fitting the description of the man in
her dreams goes on a killing spree to find her.

It’s a dark room in the middle of the night. There’s the
sound of an erratic heartbeat. Jamie
is sleeping, softly trembling and murmuring in her dreams. Sweat is pouring
down her face, while it twitches as the sound of whispers overtake the
voiceover that has been on since the scene fades in from darkness.

Jamie (voiceover):

‘They’re just stories’ they said. ‘Remember,
it’s all in your head’
they said. Such empty words. Words that they expected would
help me. Now I’m too far gone, trying to decide whether I can
control whatever’s going on inside my head, because I need to
face the fear of knowing my dreams are real. Even though
others may not see it or believe it, he’s real. And I made him so.

Jamie jolts awake, with a startled look on her face.
Immediately, she glares to the corner of the room, looking afraid but aware of
what is going to on. Before she has a chance to gather herself, she is thrown
into a spasm of fits and is then thrown off the bed by an unseen force. She is
unable to even scream from writhing in pain. Suddenly, the pain goes away and
she gets up and goes to the mirror; where she can see a flash of the killer
behind her.

Reflection on my blogDuring this lesson, my blog was analyzed by another student in order to provide me with some feedback on the work that I have posted on my blog so far. Here are some of the notes that I have collected from spectators of my blog:

I have made good progress and provided detail in the mention of my influences for my horror trailer

I need to analyse more trailers for my research section

I have a good range of media forms

I need to post more entries on my blog

I am taking great consideration of this feedback because I think it is important to understand where I am in this project and how to keep organised and on track with updating my blog.

Tuesday, 20 November 2012

Influences

Nightmare on Elm Street: the reason for this film
being one of our influences is the focus of the narrative; this is because of
the concept that Freddie Krueger (killer) established the slaying of his
victims in their dreams, making him a dangerous figment of the imagination,
which is what we will incorporate into our trailer.

Friday the 13th: This is one of our influences because of the
idea that the killer is concealed by a mask and this dehumanises his character,
which makes the film more intense because he is practically blank. This makes
the film scarier for audiences because the less they know about the killer, the
scarier he will appear.

Slender man: Slender man became one of our
influences because of his appearance, being very blank and simple, which
appealed to the concept of ‘less is more’. This is why our killer will be
wearing a suit with his gas mask in order to prevent him from standing out too
much and being excessively gruesome.

Thursday, 18 October 2012

Monday, 15 October 2012

As you can see, this is what my group and I have decided to use for the costume of the killer within our horror trailer. The concept was that the killer would be from the early 20th century, taking the form of someone who was involved in the first or second world war.
The large trench coat gives a very intimidating feeling because it is large and covers most of the persons body, making it appear he is very concealed and this can be a scary feature for a killer because the less the audience know, the more intrigued they are to figure out who it is.
The gas mask reflects the time period in which the killer comes from. It could possibly be ironic of the fact it is helping him breathe but he is trying to kill people and stop them breathing. The colour white is an important feature of the mask because it emphasizes that the killer is a complete blank and mysterious, leaving the audience curious as to what he may look like; there is no indication of his facial features, which effectively de-humanises him.

Monday, 8 October 2012

Tuesday, 11 September 2012

The mise-en-scene focuses on the narrative of the film by connoting scenes that are included within the film, which are set within the living environments of the band and crew and also the stage of a live performance. Many of the scenes present a behidn the scenes concept of their lives with comic moments and every day occurances in their career. The mention of the mixture between the documentary and the live performance offers the audience an insight into what can be expected. The non diagetic sound is taken from the documentary as it is a song written by the band, which also gives the audience a preview of what they might hear and a sense of familiarity from what they might have heard before. A lot of diagetic sounds like the band yelling and laughing suggests that there is a comical side to this documentary, which could intrigue the audience further.

The mise-en-scene is based in the suburban streets of America, following the stalking of teenagers by a mute serial killer that escaped from a mental institution. The event is based on the night of Halloween, which insinuates the killer as a real life 'boogeyman'. The majority of the film is set at night, in order to build suspense, but also the lighting mostly avoids showing the face of the killer until the end of the film in order to dismiss any features of the killer to suggest that he isn't human, but merely a shape. In terms of cinematography, there are a lot of close ups of the victims to allow the audience to observe their reactions to each event. The non diagetic track playing over the trailer is a simple ostinato on a piano, yet manages to be the largest contribution to the fear factor of this film, which was also stated by producers of the film. The editing of the shots brings together a chase scene that uses a series of cuts straight from the victim to the shape, each time of the shape getting closer before the trailer finishes, leaving the audience on a cliffhanger.

Monday, 10 September 2012

The mise-en-scene embarks upon not only advertising the film, but brings the narrative from the original film and sequel that helps link together the entire trilogy. The clips from the previous two films remind the audience of the context of 'rules' within the films, and how they help the killers motive make sense. By incorporating the two previous films, it allows a new audience to seek the other two films and this expands their advertising and profit.
The cinematography incorporates several close ups of characters in order to accentuate their fear and pain that derive from the killer. In particular, when all of the female characters are shown in a panning extreme close up while they are screaming informs the audience of what they intend to expect from the characters responses to the killer.
The non diagetic sound presents the tracks used in the actual film, which can bring a sense of familiarity for the audiences who have seen the previous films. 'Anyone including the main character can die', which is a clip taken from the trailer an anticipating insight into the new danger that is developing in this film. Existing fans of the film saga will take this to be a very interesting point because since the 'rules' have changed, it creates a new plot twist to keep them intrigued.
The montage of the female characters screaming has been edited with fast cuts, which manage to build up the suspense.

Naomi Wolf (1991) projected the feminist view of the way women are represented in the media industry. She stated that the use of using an attractive female model on the cover of magazines can influences the reader’s outlook on their own lifestyle. By doing this, she agrees that this is a way of suppressing the idea of a patriarchal society and the dominance of women and allowing society to notice the strength women have. The concept of this is that the female readers will see the appeal of the female on the cover as a role model; someone to aspire themselves to be like: attractive and successful. Whereas male readers will observe it as a form of sex appeal. This is what I have used in my own magazine, in order to exploit the female gender in order to attract a larger audience.

The theory of Uses and Gratifications is being exploited in my work because the target audience are looking for a sense of identification in what they are reading. People tend to identify with articles in magazines because they feel it reflects aspects of their own life and that is what I am trying to achieve because the female on the front cover can act as a positive role model for others.

I think the audience needs to feel connected to my magazine because it adopts a genre of music they are interested in and they want to know more about what happens in this music industry and the artists and stories that catch their attention. In order to expand on the target audience, current readers may even discuss their interests found in this magazine with friends and this could influence them to become interested in this magazine also.

My article presents the model on the front cover but in a different pose and choice of costume to create variation for the reader. I have included writing that involves trivia about a band member that would be conventional for a music magazine because readers want to know details about their favourite bands and members. I adapted the logo for the magazine into the name of the article so the layout is similar but with slight variations.

This is my final front cover for my magazine. I have included influences from my chosen
style model but at the same time challenged conventions and adapted my own
original style in terms of layout and colour scheme.

The reason I chose this colour scheme to work with was
because I have never seen these colours in a music magazine of this genre so I
wanted to break away from existing work in order to make mine original and
interesting.

Distribution is an important stage in selling my magazine therefore I think that I need to identify a publishing company that is suited for my magazine. I think Bauer media will be the best option because it has rights to over 80 media brands, which include magazines like Kerrang that are in a similar music genre to my magazine. It has also appealed to celebrities in the industry and this could be profitable exposure for publishing my magazine. The media company would be able to present my magazine to over 19 million customers in the UK alone and the idea that readers are involved with the company to project their own ideas and opinions on existing and future products could be beneficial if I were to use this publishing company.

Tuesday, 17 April 2012

Open Questionnaire

Please answer questions fully if you can.1. What is your opinion on the layout of the magazine?....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

2. How do you think the music genre is presented on the front cover?....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

3. Are there any strengths of this magazine? If so, please state.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

4. Would you buy this magazine? If so, please explain why.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

5. What are your opinions of the quality of the photographs?....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

6. What do you think is different about this magazine compared to others on the market?....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

7. Are there any improvements on the front cover design that you could identify?....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

8. Are there any improvements on the contents page that you could identify?....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

9. Are there any improvements on the main article that you could identify?....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

10. Does the magazine fit the layout I was aiming for in a music magazine? Please explain your answer.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Warner Brothers was originally founded by three brothers, who immigrated with their parents to North America following the 18th century Commonwealth. Their first encounter in the theatre business was using a film projector and screening films in theatres in Ohio, as well as Pennsylvania where they opened their first theatre in 1903.Most of the developments of Warner Brothers have been characterised during significant events in the 20th century. For example, in 1930 before the Second World War, they focused many of their productions on the process of cartoons and animations. The most popular string of cartoons is the series Looney Tunes, a Schlesinger product from his own studio after his separation from Harman and Ising in 1933. It wasn’t until 1944 that the cartoons were then created as a unit division and renamed Warner Bros. Cartoons. This era gave audiences an introduction to cartoons, which softened the inevitable war that would occur years later.During World War II, the vast majority of films produced in this era were war films, which later proved to be boring for audiences at that time due to the disappointment of never being able to escape the tragedy of the war. However, this choice to ignore the audiences responses and the continuum to produce them, this cost Warner Bros. a lot of money in the process.Prior to the Second World War, Warner Brothers formed partnerships with other companies in order to broaden their audience base and hope for the chances to raise profits from their productions made with other companies contributing to development and distribution. A key example is the partnership with the company Time Inc. in 1989. The merge proved promising in the beginning, after the magazines brought a lighter tone to the company and this appealed to larger audience scales, yet the main source of income regardless was the film and music units provided by Warner Brothers. There was a tone of hostility upon this merger when Paramount Communications enforced a takeover bid for Time Inc. worth 12.2 billion American dollars and at the same time they were forced to acquire Warner a 14.9 billion dollar stock offer. However, when brought to court with this case, Paramount Communications lost, were forced to withdraw the offer and the original merger of Warner Time was allowed to proceed as before.Another company that merged with Warner Brothers was DC Comics, which was the results of trying to configure the possibility of drawing in the power of stars in the industry and producing films based around characters that already have a large audience appeal, like Superman and Batman. Therefore, the adaption of Warner Brothers through the 20th century has been very difficult in order to appeal to all aspects of audience’s entertainment desire, yet the mergers within the industry have allowed there to be a mixed variety of productions.

With closed questionnaires, the questions tend to be multi-choice and are set out like a tally. Closed questionnaires are also usually only answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response. This can sometimes be seen as vague if evaluating your questionnaires because the answers can’t be expanded upon and are very limited.Here are some characteristics of closed questionnaires:· They give you facts. · They are easy to answer.· They are quick to answer.· They keep control of the conversation with the questioner.

Open questionnaires

Open questionnaires, on the other hand, have a much more extended base. The responses collected from the participants will tend to be longer and provide either an example or an opinion, depending upon the question. Open questionnaires gather qualitative data and don’t tend to be vague. Open questions begin with such as: what, why, how, describe.

· They ask the respondent to think and reflect.· They will give you opinions and feelings.· They hand control of the conversation to the respondent.

When opening conversations, a good balance is around three closed questions to one open question. The closed questions start the conversation and summarize progress, whilst the open question gets the other person thinking and continuing to give you useful information about them.